A New Hero
by NeoVaihlo
Summary: A new year at the academy welcomes more duelists, and with them comes an evil that threatens the school. With the help of Jaden and the others, the Academy will fight against the return of the Shadow Games.
1. The Make Up Exam

A New Hero

Chapter 1: The Make Up Exam

"Exam score, 82. Deck building skill, 7.6. Dueling level, Intermediate?! WHAT?!"

Michael pushed away from his computer, hands pressing against the sides of his head, screaming up at the ceiling.

"How could I only be a second rate duelist? I live for the game!!" he shouted, then looked back to the screen as it loaded a new window. "What's this? I need to go to the exam hall for a judge match?" he said, then sighed, knowng that it meant dueling against one of the best from the Academy. If the judge thought he was a desent duelist, he would be allowed in, but he would only be in Slipher Red. Ah well, it would be a start. Getting out of his chair, Michael grabbed his deck and flipped on his jacket, not bothering to put his arms through the sleeves but instead fastening the neck strap to keep it on like a cape.

"Holy cow...how many people failed the initial test?" Michael asked aloud as he walked into the exam hall. Over 200 duelists were there, all ranging from around 8 to 16 years old from the looks of them. Sighing, Michael walked to the only open registration desk. "Hi, Michael Lionheart, here for a judge match." he said, and the lady punched the data into her laptop.

"Alright, Michael. There has been a change in your match. You will be dueling another applicant, since there are so many of you. Don't worry." she said seeing his expression. "You're being paired with a duelist of your skill, and depending on the the judge thinks of your ability, both of you may pass, only one of you, or neither of you. Good luck." she said as she handed him a card.

"Perfect." Michael said as he sat down, staring at the card. It had the number 149 on it, and as he began to wonder what it meant, he heard a different female voice announce of the intercom, "Will applicants 4 and 68 please enter Duel Hall 1, applicants 55 and 132 go to Duel Hall 2, and applicants 187 and 155 p[lease head into Duel Hall 3."

Sighing again, Michael pulled his deck out and began checking the cards. All of his monsters were tanks, though he never had managed to get his hands on the Blue Eyes White Dragons. Only Seto Kaiba owned them, and they would never leave his deck, no question there. Closing his eyes with another sigh, he looked up as a blonde haired teen stepped in front of him.

"Hey." he said, his expression fairly dark. Michael gave him a two finger wave before looking back to his cards. "Mind if I sat down?" the blonde asked, and Michael shrugged. Plopping next to him, the guy looked at Michael's cards as he went through them. "Slayer style deck?" he asked, and Michael looked at him curiosly.

"What did you say?" he asked, and the guy smiled.

"Your deck has Warriors and Dragons, mainly. So it would be classified as a Slayer style deck."

Michael nodded, guessing that this guy had studdied a lot, and had failed the duel test. Curiosity taking over, he asked, "What style of deck do you run?"

"I run five different decks." the guy replied, then listed them off on his fingers. "Paladin, Torment, Tomb, Extinct and Gear." the boy replied, and Michael felt his head spin. Why was this guy taking the test again?! He seemed to read Michael thoughts, cause at that moment he smiled and said, "I was sick on the test date, so this is my make up exam, so to speak."

"Ah...makes sense." Michael replied, feeling more relieved. "By the way," he said, realizing that he had forgotten to show some manners. "My name is Michael." he said, extending his hand.

"Neo." the blonde replied as he grabbed Michael's hand and shook it. At that moment, more numbers were called. "Well, that's me." Neo said as he stood and walked to Duel Hall 2. Michael watched him go, then realized that his number had been called for Duel Hall 1. Jumping up, he ran to the Hall just as they started to call his disqualification.

"Wait! Wait, I'm here!" Michael yelled at the judge as he ran in. Panting, he looked up at his opponent; a tall brown haired guy with glasses.

"Very well." the judge said as he walked to a desk that had two Duel Disks resting on it. Grabbing both, he walked to the center of the Hall and instructed the two to walk forward and cut their decks. Michael felt uneasy with a stranger holding his deck. After his opponent handed his deck back to him, the judge handed each of them a Disk and backed away from, the ring. Michael walked back to his designated spot and slapped his deck in place, feeling the Disk snap to life as the play board opened and the Life Point Counter glowed 4000.

"All right! This match is between candidate Michael Lionheart and Rebel Usaga.

"What?!" Michael yelled, recognizing the name. Rebel Usaga gad won the annual Battle City Tournament two years in a row since Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto had retired from professional duelling. Rebel chuckled and pointed at him.

"You go first. You'll need the head start."

Michael drew his cards and checked them. _"Damn it, he wasn't kidding. I will need all the help I can get." _he thought as he selected a card and slid it into the spell/trap zone. "I set one card face down and summon Luster Dragon in attack mode!" he declared as the sapphire dragon appeared before him.

Rebel drew without a word, then start to chuckle again. "Nice start, rookie. But I'm afraid that you will have to do better than that. I'll also set one card face down, and since you have a monster and I don't, I'll Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my hand!" he called as the large steel dragon roared onto the playing field. Michael took a step back in fear, his hands shaking. "And now," Rebel started. "The fun can truly begin!"

Chapter 2: Down in Flames


	2. Down in Flames

Chapter 2: Down in Flames

"The winner of this match is Neo!" the judge called as Neo's opponent dropped, defeated. Neo grinned at his Life Point Counter, still reading 4000.

"Too easy." he said, then looked over at the door leading to Duel Hall 2. "Let's see how Michael is doing." With that he walked to the door as he shuffled his deck back together.

"Damn it, how can I get around that?" Michael wondered aloud as Rebel's Trap Card transformed his Cyber Dragon into Cyber Barrier Dragon. Drawing his next card, he smiled and slid it face down. "First I play a face down, and now I summon Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode!"

Rebel watched in amusement as the purple and blue sea warrior rose onto the field. "Nicely done, my draw!" he called as the top card slid into his fingers. Glancing at the card, he smiled and acted. "I summon Cyber Proto Dragon in defense mode and activaye my Polymerization Magic Card."

Michael tensed up as the two dragons glowed bright white and fused together into a two headed silver metalled dragon.

"Now my Cyber Twin Dragon will attack your Luster Dragon and Kaiser Sea Horse!" Rebel yelled as the dragon gathered energy into its mouths.

"Time out!" Michael called as he clicked a button on his duel disk, raising one of his face down cards. "I play the Trap Card Negate Attack! So your dragon's attack is canceled out, and your turn ends at the same time!"

Rebel grinned in responce to the move and nodded. "Well played. Your move."

Michael drew his card and smiled. "Alright! First off, I'll sacrifice my Kaiser Sea Horse to summon my Summoned Skull!" he declared as the sea warrior vanished and was replaced by the towering fiend. "Next, I play my own Polymerization, fusing Summoned Skull on the field and Red Eyes Black Dragon from my hand to bring out my Black Skull Dragon!"

The field turned dark as the giant grey and black dragon rose from the ground. With a mighty roar it flexed its wings, spanning across the field.

"Now, I attack your Cyber Twin Dragon with Black Skull!" Michael yelled as his dragon released a crimson fireball at Rebel's silver armored creature. The resulting explosion kicked the dust from the ground and caused Michael's jacket to kick back from the shock wave. After the dust settled, he saw Rebel standing, arms crossed, grin in place, and a Trap Card raised.

"Trap Card, Twin Destrution. If my Cyber Twin is destroyed, then both players take damage eqaul to the combined total of all monsters on the field, meaning, we draw."

"What?!" Michael yelled in rage as his Life points dropped to zero along with Rebel's. The judge stood and cleared his throat.

"That concludes this match! We will decide if you have proven worthy to enter Duel Academy after we tally your Duel Skill Points. Please wait in the Main Hall till then."

Michael walked to the door, ignoring Rebel as he passed him. Looking up, he saw Neo leaning against the doorway, giving him a thumbs up.

"Good match." he said, and Michael sighed.

"I could have won. How did you do, anyways?"

"Flawless victory, thank you." Neo said with a mock bow. Michael felt a nerve in his temple throb as they continued to walk.

"So, now we wait for the announcement?" Michael asked, and Neo nodded as he sat down against the wall. Looking down at him, Michael noticed that Neo wore a silver ring with some strange runes on it and a glowing black stone in the center. "Nice ring." he said, and Neo glanced at it.

"Yeah, just an hierloom from my parents." he said, then pulled out his decks. "Here." he said, handing one to Michael. "Have a look."

They spent the next few hours just sitting there, trading a few cards and giving each other small questions on how to deal with certain problems in Dueling and Deck Building. Finally they heard the intercom cough to life and the female voice spoke once again.

"Hello...hello? Is this thing on, oh! It is? Heheh...sorry. Okay! I am afraid that out of the 258 applicants this year, very few of you passed the make up exam. So I will list only the few who got in, starting with the ones who had the highest points. With the highest score, Neo Vaihlo."

Michael gapped at Neo, who rubbed the back of his head in an embarrased manner.

"Just got lucky, I guess." he said, and Michael hung his head, now extremly worried.

"Second highest score goes to Hitomi Moto, third to Martin Kaiba..." the list went on to the 9th person. "Nineth is Jessica Wheeler, and finally tenth goes to Michael Lionheart."

The hall was filled with disapointed groans as the rejected applicants made their way outside. Michael stood in stunned silence, feeling a balloon well up in his chest. He got in? He couldn't help but jump for joy with a loud whoop. Beside him, Neo slapped his forhead in embarasment. After everyone had left the Hall, the President of the Duel Academy approached the ten of them. Michael noticed that Rebel had passed as well, much to his distaste.

"Congradulations." the President said as he smiled at them. He was a moderatly built man in a suit with well kept shoulder-length brown hair. Looking at each student, he walked amoung them, handing them each a ticket for the boat to the Academy Island. "I look forward to seeing you all there." he said and, with a final grin, he walked off.

"So, that is President Kirk." said a voice behind Michael. Turning, he saw a black haired youth with an air of superiority about him. He glared at the Presidents back as he walked away, then grinned. "Oh well. I'll just have to make do for now." he said as he walked off. Michael glared at his back, then looked to Neo.

"Who's the jerk?"

"Martin Kaiba. Son of Seto Kaiba, President of Industrial Illusions, the company that mass produces all Duel Monster cards and equipment. Seems we will be dorming with him." Neo said casually before walking away.

Michael stood in silence. The son of Seto Kaiba? That would mean he had his father's deck! And within it, the Blue Eyes White Dragons! The cards he loved were now so close, yet seemed so much farther away.

That night Michael lay on his bed, examening his ticket. He had already packed and was ready to head out in the morning to be at the docks early. As he flipped the ticket between his fingers, something slipping out from the paper and fluttered to the ground. Sitting up, Michael saw that it was a card. Leaning off his bed, he snatched it off the floor and felt his eyes pop in their sockets. It was a Monster Card, a Dragon, one he had never seen before. The card's name was enough for him to add it to his deck instantly. Nine Hells Dragon.


	3. Arrival

Chapter 3: Arrival

The crisp morning air felt chilly against Michael's face as he sat on a bench, watching the water flow under the dock. His bags beside him, he lay back, watching the sun peep out from behind one of the lone clouds in the sky, feeling the slight warmth that it provided. Smiling at his acomplishment the previous day, he sat up as he saw Neo and a girl with long blue hair streaked with red approaching. Getting to his feet, Michael waved as they stepped onto the dock, and both waved back.

"Hey, morning." Neo said as he dropped his bags next to Michael's. The girl set her bags beside Neo's before sitting on the edge of the dock and dipping her feet into the water.

"Yeah, same to you." Michael said as he watched the girl. Neo started in surprise then cleared his throat.

"Man, I have had the worste manners lately. Allow me to introduce my sister, Aria. She is coming with us."

Michael stared at the girl in wonder. He didn't remember seeing her at the exams yesterday. Neo grinned and plopped down on the bench.

"She passed on her first try." he said, and Michael nodded in understanding, the puzzle pieces falling into place for him.

"So...she is a good duelist?" he asked as he sat next to Neo. The teen laughed and shook his head.

"She couldn't duel her way out of a paper bag. No, she is just freaking smart. Amamzing at the theory, but crappy in the actual field." he said, then jumped up as Aria kicked some water at him.

"Hey!" she yelled, angrily getting to her feet, her hair flipping around her head as she stood. "Who was it that helped you study for the entrance exam?!" she burst out, yelling straight into Neo's face.

"Hey, I didn't even write the damn thing!" he shouted back, to which Aria turned and crossed her arms.

"Well, if you had just kept the ring on like you're supposed to, then you wouldn't have had the-"

"ARIA!" Neo roared, and his sister clapped her hands across her mouth as though she had just said a terrible curse. Michael stared at the two in confusion, completely dumbfounded.

"Yo! What's going on?" came a new voice from the far side of the dock. Turning, they all saw Rebel and a girl with long flowing red hair approach.. Michael felt his pulse rise at the sight of Rebel, but the fact that there were now two girls around kept him from speaking out.

"Hey, how's it going, Aria?" the girl asked as she skipped over and hugged Neo's sister. Aria smiled at her and began talking as she lead her over to the edge of the dock. Rebel sat down on the bench and tossed his head skyward, watching the gulls overhead. Neo and Michael both walked around the dock as they waited.

"So, who is the red head?" Michael asked, and Neo grinned.

"That would be our cousin, Misao. She is the balance in our family." Neo said, and Michael heard crickets in his confusion. Neo laughed at his expression and continued. "I mean that she is both good at dueling theory and at the game itself. Not extremly good, but good enough."

"Ah, okay." Michael said as he turned his gaze back to the two girls as they dipped their feet in the water, chatting animatidly.

Two hours later Michael was leaning on the rail of the ship, feeling his early breakfast of toast and bacon screaming to be let back out. He felt a burp rise and let it escape just as his food made a break for it.

Neo came out of the cabin as Michael retched overboard, and the blonde teen lost his appetitte as he heard the goopy splashes over the side.

"Not a sea man, eh?" he called, and Michael weakly gave him a thumbs up over his shoulder before uping the second round of bacon. Repulsed, Neo went back inside and looked around the room. There were several new duelists that he didn't know by name, but several he knew by reputation. Martin Kaiba stood off to the side with Jessica Wheeler, both of whom were heavily into a conversation. Hitomi Moto, daughter of the previous world champion Yugi Moto sat alone in a corner, thumbing through her cards. Rebel and his sister were having a very animated discussion by the buffet table, and Misao was talking to a boy with white hair and glasses wearing a black jacket and red pants with navy blue stripes across the legs. Neo knew that he had seen the guy before, but his name just wouldn't come to mind. He began to approach when the PA system turned on and the captain's voice was heard.

"Attention all passengers. We have just arrived at Academy Island. Please make your way to the deck and disembark to the school. Good luck to you all."

Neo smiled as he ran out the door onto the deck, grabbing Michael by the shirt collar and dragging him behind as he rushed to the dock.

"Neo! Slow down, I'm gonna-!" Michael dove for the railing as a fresh wave of stomach juices launched out. Heaving on the rail, Michael felt the nausea lessen as he realized that the boat had stopped moving. "Okay, if I am going to get off of here alive, I have to move now." he said as he forced himself to run to his cabin and grab his bags before running down the boarding plank and onto the dock. "Land! Oh! Thank you God!" he cried as he dropped to his knees and hugged the wooden boards.

"Yo!" Neo called from the other side of the dock. Michael looked up and realized that he was being left behind and quickly got to his feet, fighting a fresh wave of dizzyness as he rose. Grabbing his bags he started to run, but bumped head long into a brown haired kid with a red and white jacket.

"Ouch! Sorry bout that." Michael said as he looked at the kid, who was getting to his feet from the collision.

"Don't worry about it, bro." he said, then looked at Michael's clothes. "Oh, you're one of the new students, aren't you?" he asked, and Michael nodded.

"Yeah, name's Michael Lionheart."

"Sweet." the kid said, then pointed his thumb at himself. "My name is Jaden Yuki. Hope I can duel you soon, but we had better hurry before we miss the opening ceremony for the new year."

Neo and Aria looked around nervously as the three dorms filed into the entrance hall of the academy. The Obelisk Blue's, Ra Yellow's and Slifer Red's all looked somewhat intimidating as they looked down on the new students. Neo looked over his shoulder as Michael came running up, panting for breath.

"Get lost?" Neo asked, and Michael shook his head and pointed at Jaden as he slipped in with the rest of his dorm. "Ah, started making friends." Neo said with a smile, and Michael rolled his eyes.

"Hey, who are they?" Aria asked as she pointed over to a fair amount of student standing off to the side, none of whom were wearing a dorm jacket.

"I dunno, exchange students?" Misao suggested from in front of them. "There are more than just one duel school, you know."

"Yeah. That must be exchange students." Neo said before turning to face the front as the school's Headmaster and President Kirk stepped forward. "Perfect." Neo sighed in frustration. "A welcome speech, just what I wanted to hear."

"Greetings to all students, returning and arriving." Kirk said loudly, his voice echoing throughout the entrance hall. "For those of you who do not know me, I am the school board president, Kirk Ryuonji. I am here to simply say welcome, and good luck with the school year!"

Kirk's words were met with a mild cheering from the students, and as he turned and left the school, he smiled.

"You're going to need it."


	4. Unforseen Events

Chapter 4: Unforseen Events

"Alright, students. Today we will be discussing the Chain Speed between Traps and Spells." Michael yawned as he watched the creepy Professor Crowler give his lecture about the cards, his new Slifer Red jacket making him feel way too hot in the classroom. Suddenly the doors behind him burst open, causing Crowler to pause in his lecture. All the students turning to see the door, Jaden came running in at full boar, apologizing to everyone he ran over as he barrled over to his seat, where he then sat, panting like a dog.

"Late on the first day, Mr. Yuki?" Professor Crowler's voice called in a mix of anger and delight. "This means detention, young man."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, teach." Jaden said as he leaned onto his desk. "I forgot that Syrus is in Ra now, so there was no one to wake me up."

"That is no excuse. I will see you after school, Jaden." Crowler said before turning triumphantly to the black board. "Now class, who can tell me, in order, the speed of cards. Yes, you go ahead, Miss Vaihlo."

Aria stood up and began talking instantly. "The slowest card is a Normal Spell, followed by Trap Cards and Quick-Play Spell Cards. Topping all of them are the Counter Trap Cards, which can only be blocked either a Monster Effect or by another Counter Trap."

"Very well said, Aria. Please sit down." Professor Crowler said as he turned to face the class. Michael leaned forward and whispered to Neo in the row in front.

"Dude, your sister is a freaking genius."

"Don't remind me." Neo groaned as he rubbed between his eyes, which were closed from the stress. "I never hear the end of it at home."

"Now class!" Crowler said in a raised voice, bringing all chatter to a halt. "We have some exchange students from Egypt arriving later today, if you hadn't heard earlier. As part of their welcome, we are organizing a campus wide tournament, for both them and all the new students. The rules are simple; after lunch, there will be a siren. Once that siren goes off, the tournament begins. You duel whomever you wish, but once you lose, you return to either the school or your dorm, understood?"

There was a general agreement from the students just as the bell rang for lunch. Everyone got up and left for the cafeteria, each talking about the tournament.

"Man, this is too sweet!" Jaden said as he walked with Michael and Neo to the cafeteria. "First day back, and we have a tournament. Man, I have to get my deck ready!"

"Maybe you should eat some food first, Jaden." Neo suggested as they approached the cafeteria. "Dueling on an empty stomach will weaken your mind during the game.

"Good idea." Jaden said as he grabbed a tray and walked into the line.

As soon as they had finished eating a healthy and nutritious lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, Neo, Michael and Jaden all headed back into the dorm and started preparing their decks for the tournament.

"So Jaden, you're one of the top duelists here?" Michael asked as he shuffled his deck. Jaden nodded and smiled.

"My deck rarely lets me down. Each monster in here is a personal friend."

Michael smiled and nodded, having a similar connection to his cards. Neo remained silent, staring at each of his decks in turn, trying to decide which one to use. Jaden noticed this and laughed.

"I tell Bastion this every time. Just stick to one deck and avoid the struggle of which to use."

Neo looked over and grinned.

"That's not my problem. I can't decide if I should crush everyone instantly, or if I should spread out their suffering."

"The sooner you win the sooner I whip you in the finals." Jaden replied, and Neo grinned as he grabbed a deck in a black container. Opening the top and dumping the cards into his hand, he started to shuffle while Michael looked at his deck containers. Picking up a red and black one, he noticed that it had a strange lock on it that he couldn't open.

"Yo Neo. Which deck is this?" he asked, and Neo paled slightly as he looked over.

"That is a deck which I am only going to use if a certain disator strikes." he said before turning back to his shuffling. Michael, more confused than ever, set the container back down and picked up his own deck. Getting to his feet and sliding the deck into his Duel Disk, he left the dorm with Jaden as Neo continued to shuffle, a strange dead look in his eyes.


	5. The Semi Finals

Chapter 5: The Semi Finals

The tournament lasted for six hours until only eight duelists remained. Michael, Jaden, Neo, Aria, Martin, Hitomi and the two Egyptian students. The first match in the semi finals was between Neo and one of the exchange students, Hao, a tall, dark skinned boy with extremely light brown hair and sharp eyes. Jaden and Michael both watched the two as they shuffled their decks. Michael sighed, his fear of heights not eased by the fact that the semi finals were being held on the roof of the academy. Looking over to Neo, he saw that the blonde duelist was shaking slightly as he slid his deck into his disk as he and Hao stared each other down, waiting to begin.

"Begin!" shouted the tournament judge, a tall, black skinned bald man in a navy blue suit. Neo drew the first card and smiled.

"Alright," he said, placing the card in his hand and reaching for one on the left. "I will summon my Newdoria and set one card face down." he said as the pink and black demon appeared in front of the face down card. "I'll end there."

"Works with me." Hao said as he drew a card and eyed his hand slowly. After a few moments he selected two cards. "I will set one card face down and summon my Pyramid Turtle." he declared, and Neo grinned as the giant turtle appeared on Hao's side. "Now I will attack your Newdoria!"

Neo watched calmly as the giant turtle charged him, grinning foolishly.

"Open face down card!" he yelled. waving his hand over the trap in front of him. "Mask of Weakness. This allows me to weaken your overgrown lizard by 700 attack points."

Hao growled as the mask slid onto his turtle and drained its attack.

"Now Newdoria!" Neo shouted, pointing at Pyramid Turtle. "Counter Attack!"

The demon leapt forward and sank its claw deep into Hao's monster, causing the image to dissolve. Hao laughed as Newdoria returned to Neo's side of the field.

"Thank you! Now I can use my Pyramid Turtle's Special Ability! When it is destroyed in battle, I am allowed to Special Summon from my hand or deck a Zombie type monster with 2000 defence points or less. Please say hello to my Vampire Lord!"

Neo smiled, watching the 2000 attack point monster rise over his Newdoria.

"Vampire Lord! Crush his Newdoria now!" Hao ordered. The monster leapt onto Newdoria and sank its fangs deep into its neck, destroying the image of the monster.

"Activate Spell Card!" Neo shouted as the Damage Step began. "My Spell of Pain allows me to transfer the damamge over to you, pal."

Hao growled as his Life Points were depleted even further. He had lost 1400 already, putting him down to 2600 while Neo was still sitting at 4000.

"Now," Neo continued, smiling even wider. "My Newdoria's Spcial Ability allows me to destroy your Vampire Lord, so say goodbye!"

Hao cursed as his monster exploded in front of him, leaving him defenceless.

"I end my turn." he said, and Neo swiped his next card from his deck.

"Bout time, now..." he said, scanning his new hand. "I'll set two cards face down and summon Blockman in attack mode!" he said as the giant Lego-block-looking monster appeared in front of him. "Now," he said, grabbing a Spell from his hand. "I activate Turn Jump! This card skips the duel to three turns in the future, so now I can use Blockman's Special Ability, seperating him into three seperate monsters, and now I Sacrifice all three of my monsters to summon my Wicked Dreadroot!"

Michael stared in awe as the massive demon pulled itself from the ground, its green skin and bone armor adding to its intimidating appearance. Then the Attack Point Counter appeared, and Michael, along with Jaden and Hitomi, nearly passed out. The fiend had 4000 attack points.

"That's game, isn't it?" Martin asked as he crossed his arms, smirking.

"Yeah. I'd say so." Jaden replied.

"Dreadroot!" Neo shouted, pointing towards Hao. "End this duel!"


	6. Creeping Shadows

Chapter 6: Creeping Shadows

The attack never hit. An hour after the attack had been declared, everyone now stood outside of a giant black sphere that had swallowed up Hao and Neo. Jaden paced around as he waited, his game rage growing. Hitomi and Martin were both sitting on the benches placed around the roof while Aria scanned the area with a pair of binoculars. As for Michael, he stood in front of the sphere, waiting to see some sign of life.

"Over there!" Aria suddenly shouted, causing everyone to look over at one of the spires overlooking the school. "There's some dude in a back robe up there!" she shouted, and Michael grabbed the binoculars from her and pressed them against his eyes. Yes! There was someone up there. Roughly giving the binoculars back to Aria, Michael loaded his Duel Disk and ran to the elevator.

"What are you doing?" Jaden asked as he stopped his pacing.

"I'm going to go and ask that person some questions." Michael replied as the doors shut and he was send down into the Lobby of the school.

"Red neck." Martin said gruffly as he stared at the doors.

"What happened? Where are we?!" Hao shouted as he looked around in the swirling darkness around him. He could still see Neo and his monster across from him, but neither moved, only Neo's voice could be heard. Hao strained to hear him, then felt his blood chill as he heard two voices.

"Get out of my head!"

"Let me in, move aside! The shadows are my home, and yours."

"No! Leave me alone! Leave me AAAGH!"

Hao trembled as he suddenly saw two red eyes glaring at him from across the field.

"Now we can finish this duel." came Neo's voice, only it sounded darker, more sadistic, more demonic.

Michael stared at the man from the spire opposite from him, his Duel Disk active.

"HEY! Let them out!" he shouted. The figure turned to face him, a red Duel Disk flashing into view from under the cloak.

"Alright! Let's dance!" Michael shouted as he drew his cards and smiled. "I'll set two cards face down and summon my Luster Dragon in Attack Mode!"

The cloaked figure drew a card as Michael's sapphire dragon appeared in the air between them, growling in anticipation. The figure said nothing as it played two cards face down as well, followed by a monster in face down defence mode. After a few seconds, Michael realized that it was his move.

"Okay, now!" he said as he drew his next card. "I summon Armed Dragon Level 3 in Attack Mode and attack your monster!"

The tiny orange and grey dragon flew across the field towards the face down card, causing it to flip face up. The monster that appeared was too familiar for Michael's taste. Newdoria. His dragon's claw ripped through the fiend, and in the aftershock killed his Luster Dragon.

"Damn it." Michael growled as he ended his turn and watched the figure draw a new card.

"Can you see what's happening over there?" Jaden asked as Aria gazed through her binoculars towards Michael.

"I can't tell, I think that its still a tie." she said, the eye pieces of the binoculars cutting into her skin as she gazed at the spire. Suddenly a blood curdling scream escaped from the black sphere next to them, causing everyone to look over at it. The black shape weakened and slowly dissapated, revealing Neo on his feet, panting, sweat dripping from his brow, his hands clenched in tight fists. Across from him, Hao lay lifeless on the ground, his eyes wide and blank, mouth gapping open, his scream imbedded in everyone's ears.

"Oh my God... " Jaden said slowly, backing away from the scene. Neo suddenly retched and vomited, dropping to his hands and knees, his entire body shaking.

"What have I done?" he gasped just as another wave of gasteric came flying up.

"What the hell?" Michael asked himself as the sphere vanished. Suddenly her heard the figure across from him laugh, a cold male voice.

"Excellent, the awakening has truly begun." he said, malice laced in his voice. Michael turned back to face him.

"Yo! What the hell is going on here?" he asked, and the cloaked man laughed again.

"You will see soon, little Slifer. You will see soon." he said. Michael gasped as the man leapt off the spire, plummeting to the ground.

"Holy Shit!" Michael shouted, then blinked in confusion; the man had vanished. "What the heck?" he asked, then shook his head and ran back to the elevators, wanting to see what had happened.

"Neo! Neo, get a hold of yourself!" Aria shouted as she shook her brother by the shoulders as the others watched in fear. After Neo's vomitting attack, he had suddenly started shaking and twitching, his eyes rolling around in his head, foam spilling from his mouth. Aria turned to the judge and screamed. "What are you doing?! Get help, get someone! Do something!!"

At her words the judge, along with Jaden and Hitomi, ran to the elevator as Michael came out, pushed past him, and desended into the school.

"What's going on?" Michael asked as he saw the scene before him; Hao on the ground with his friend kneeling over him, chanting some prayer, Neo going nuts on the ground before him with Aria in tears as she tried to calm her brother, and the rest of the duelists off to the sides, looking either repulsed or terrified. "Sweet mother of Mary..." Michael said weakly as he realized that his efforts had been in vain, dropping to his knees. "Did I even make a difference?"


	7. Warnings

Chapter 7: Warnings

Michael sat in a chair outside the Sick Wing of the academy, his head haning as he and Aria waited for the results of Neo's examination. They were the only two in the room, besides the other Egyptian exchange student who sat waiting to hear about Hao. Michael finally stood and walked over to the window, staring out on the ocean as a storm slowly shifted in. Behind him, Aria suddenly burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. Michael turned and walked over to her. Kneeling in front of her, he tried to give her some courage.

"Relax, you know Neo. He'll be fine."

Aria didn't look up, but instead flung her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. Michael felt the tears soak through his jacket, but didn't mind as he put his arms around her and gently squeezed her. Suddenly the doors opened and the doctor walked out, carrying a clip board and pen. Aria looked up and pushed past Michael, running straight for the white jacketed man. Michael slowly got to his feet and followed her, a small, strange feeling in his chest.

"How is he?" he heard Aria ask as he walked up behind her.

"He'll be fine once the meds that we gave him kick in." the doctor replied, looking down at her with a small smile. "You can go see him if you would like."

Michael followed Aria into the room where Neo lay on a white sheeted bed, his eyes closed, several strange machines hooked up to his body. His face was pale, eyes closed, his chest rose and fell slowly as he breathed through an oxygen mask. His hair had a dark tinge to it, and there were heavy bags under his eyes. Aria broke down again and, dropping to her knees, sobbed into her hands, her entire body trembling. Michael knelt down beside her and placed his arms around her, she responded by turning and embracing him again, and he remained there, motionless, holding her until the doctor asked them to leave.

"It was a Soul Game." said the egyptian student again as he spoke in strained english to Gerand and Martin. "A game where the price of defeat is your soul."

"Okay, listen to me, Hashim." Martin said, his eyes cold and hard. "I don't care. Your buddy passed out and Neo went loco, and you're blaming some ancient Egyptian bull crap?"

"Hey, leave him alone!" Gerand snapped as he glared at Martin. The blue haired boy shook his head and walked away, muttering to himself. Gerand looked to Hashim and bowed his head. "Sorry, but he doesn't believe much of anything other than that his dad is freaking rich."

"It is alright." Hashin said as he turned away. "People don't believe what they do not understand. I must go and check my brother now."

Gerand watched the young boy run off and sighed, making a mental note to back-hand Martin later.

Martin sat at his computer, waiting for his dad to answer his video call. When his father's face appeared on his moniter, he smiled.

"How's Kaiba Corp. doing, pops?" he asked, and Seto grinned.

"Still acting like a kid, huh? What's going on?"

"Nothing, just a tournament that got cancelled because of some black sphere."

Seto's eyes widened at thses words, and he stared at his son in concern.

"What kind of black sphere?"

"You know, back and round." Martin said, dumbfounded. "It swallowed two guys dueling and after, one of them was in a coma while the other guy was freaking out. Collapsed and had a siezure or something." He waited for his father to say something, but only silence met his words. "To top it off," he said, figuring that his dad would get a kick out of Hashim's idiocy. "Some Egyptian kid said it was a Soul Game!"

"A Soul Game?" Seto shouted in terror, and Martin fell silent, now feeling nervous about his father's behavoir.

"Dad? What's going on?"

"Listen to me, Martin." Seto said, his face set and serious. "That Soul Game is better known as a Shadow Game, and they are no joke. They are real, and they are dangerous. If you get dragged into one, you have only one option; win. If you lose, your soul will be imprisoned in the Shadow Realm."

Martin stared at his father like he had never seen him before.

"Dad? Are you drunk?"

"NO I Am NOT! Listen to me, Martin! Shadow Games are real, and they are more dangerous than any weapon on earth. Do not get involved with them."

"Whatever dad, later."

"Martin! Don't you - "

Martin leaned back in his chair and sighed, staring at the roof of his room. Now his own father was going nuts about this Egyptian crap. What was going on?


End file.
